What happens when Marinette meets Luka before band practice for the Paris music festival? Better yet, what happens when Adrien shows up and joins the band? Does Luka know about Marinette's crush on Adrien? Do Alya and Nino know about the imfamous um...
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·Collège Françoise Dupont·
The following Wednesday, Marinette made her way to fencing practice. She was glad she had the chance to spend time with Adrien, even if all they would be doing was sparring. She was still far from being as good as Adrien, but at least she was getting better. Even Chat had noticed the improvement in her defense tactics and reaction times.
Adrien felt much the same. He loved being able to do something with Marinette where they didn't have to talk much. They were able to simply spar. Marinette was improving, greatly. She really was a natural born fencer. Although fencing was something he did with Marinette, the main reason he practiced so hard was to make sure he could protect Ladybug.
About halfway through practice, Luka arrived. However, he was early so he decided not to interrupt and simply hang out close by to watch the two spar. It didn't take him long to decide that Adrien had more experience but Marinette looked more natural.
They almost look like they are dancing.
Time seemed to fly by as Luka watched and by the end, Luka was rather jealous that Adrien and Marinette had something to do on their own, like band practice for him and Adrien. He also wanted a special activity with Marinette. When the class finished up, Marinette and Adrien were talking when they all heard a sudden crash.
Luka glanced in the direction of the commotion and caught sight of a rather odd looking Akuma. A man with grayish skin, dark eyes, pure white hair, and a black crown with a chess piece mounted on it. He wore a black and gray outfit with a gray rook on his chest under a dark cloak and carried a black scepter.
"Max! Come out, come out and play!" the boy shouted as he stormed into the gymnasium.
Luka turned his attention back to Marinette and Adrien just in time to see them both bolt into the locker rooms. He quickly darted up the stairs, hoping to stay out of the Akuma's way while he waited for Chat Noir and Ladybug to arrive. He was about to hide in one of the classrooms when he caught a glimpse of Ladybug running out of the girl's locker room and Chat Noir coming out of the boy's bathroom at near the same time. Something about them seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He knew he should hide to keep safe but he was too interested in figuring out why he thought he knew Ladybug and Chat Noir.
"Great to see you again, M'Lady. It appears we have perfect timing today."
"It seems like it. Ready to take down another Akuma? I've got things to do, so let's make it fast."
"What? M'Lady, you aren't going on a date without me now, are you?"
"Don't be so nosy, Kitty," Ladybug said, gently tapping her partner's nose. "My plans aren't any concern of yours."
"Well, you should know I'm late for one too. So, let's hurry up and find that Akuma," Chat Noir replied, grabbing his baton and holding it at the ready.
Luka was almost certain he'd seen that exact sad expression before. He didn't want the Akuma to spot him, so he quickly hid as best he could and continued watching.
"Nice of you to join the game, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Why don't you make the first move?"
"If you insist!" Chat Noir replied as he launched a direct attack without another thought.
Ladybug hung back, scanning their opponent to find the Akuma. "Go for the crown," she called to Chat Noir.
Luka watched as three unsuspecting students entered the school.
"Get out!" Chat Noir called to them.
As soon as the King heard Chat Noir call out, he turned, taking one step in their direction and touched each of them with his scepter. They all took on the look of a separate chess piece. First a bishop, then a rook and the last, a pawn. The bishop slid in front of him, the rook moved forward to take up the place to his left, and the pawn was by his right side. Chat Noir tried to break right and attack the Akuma from that side but the bishop defended, throwing Chat backward. Next, the rook launched a direct attack on Ladybug.
From his high vantage point, Luka could see each attack and was intrigued by how similar they paralleled a chess game. As the rook was about to reach Ladybug, she sidestepped, effectively evading the attack. Ladybug was acting like a queen and Chat Noir as a knight. The Akuma appeared to be the Black King since he allowed them to go first. If Luka was right, the Akuma wouldn't do much unless he had to and would depend on his pawns to do all the work. Just then, the Black King sidestepped behind his pawn.
Guess that proves that theory.
"You may as well give up now. You will never out think me," the Black King warned.
Ladybug didn't even seem fazed by his comment as she called for her Lucky Charm. Chat Noir darted down the right, zig-zagging to avoid the bishop until he reached the pawn. The pawn was easily removed and flung towards the wall. What looked like a giant check mark fell into Ladybug's hands, and she looked around the room, trying to figure out what to do.
"Chat, look out!" Ladybug called as the bishop moved in from behind.
Chat spun around just in time to defend against the bishop, while the King sidestepped to get away from him. The bishop put up a strong defense, but it didn't take long for Chat to overpower him. Suddenly, Ladybug darted forward and placed herself next to the King. Instead of attacking, she waited as if it wasn't her turn. The rook moved to defend the King, placing himself in the middle, but it was already too late. Chat was free and able to attack the rook from behind and remove him from the fight.
"Checkmate," Ladybug exclaimed as she launched an attack on the King. "Chat, I need your Cataclysm," she shouted taking the King's crown.
"Cataclysm!" Chat cried out and the familiar destructive glow appeared in his hand.
"No!" The Black King shrieked as Ladybug snatched the crown and threw it at Chat.
Luka stared in disbelief. If he hadn't watched Adrien and Marinette earlier, he wasn't sure he ever would have noticed. Luka's head was spinning with questions, watching as the crown and its mounted chess piece rusted and cracked, releasing the little Akuma.
Is it really Adrien and Marinette?! Do they know?!
"No more evil doing for you little Akuma," Ladybug called out, and Luka noticed how she sounded exactly like Marinette.
Suddenly, he thought back to the time Ladybug had saved him and realized why she seemed so familiar even though they had never met. Luka watched as Ladybug quickly caught the Akuma. He was more and more certain it was Marinette with each action she made.
"Time to de-evilize! Bye-bye, little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!"
"Pound it!" Chat Noir and Ladybug said together.
Luka watched as Ladybug picked up the chess piece that had held the Akuma and made her way towards the Akuma Victim who appeared to be a boy their age.
"What happened?" the boy asked.
"You were akumatized by Hawk Moth. I believe this is yours," Ladybug gave him a smile and held out the chess piece to him.
The boy nodded and took the small rook from her. "I guess I was so upset about losing the tournament that I kinda lost it. I'm sorry."
"This isn't the first time losing a tournament has given Hawk Moth the opportunity to akumatize someone. Just remember there is always another chance," Ladybug assured as she helped the boy up.
The boy gave her a smile, "Thanks Ladybug."
When Ladybug's earrings beeped, she glanced at Chat. "Looks like it's time to go!"
Luka watched the pair quickly bolt out of the building. He was interested to see if Marinette and Adrien would come out of the bathroom and if they did he wondered how they would get in. He didn't have to wait long before he saw Marinette sneak back into the building, followed shortly thereafter by Adrien. Luka was even more jealous of Adrien and Marinette now since he'd figured out they spent even more time together.
[I]They really need to do a better job of hiding their secret. I'm going to have to bring it up to them, but first I have to figure out if they know about each other.
Luka quickly made his way down the stairs and waited for Marinette and Adrien to come back out of the locker rooms. Marinette was the first to make her way back out. He decided he would wait to talk to them about their identities.
"Hey, Marinette! I'm glad you're okay. Ladybug and Chat were just here fighting an Akuma."
"I know! I saw them and decided to hide in the locker room until I was sure everything was back to normal."
Luka chuckled at the outright lie but didn't call her on it as Adrien made his way towards them.
"How about you? Were you waiting out the Akuma in the locker room too?"
"Yeah, I didn't want to get turned into one of that Akuma's PAWns."
Luka couldn't help but notice the inflection that Adrien put on paw when he said pawns, making him sound just like Chat Noir. He was guessing Adrien didn't even know he'd done it.
"Yeah, I'm guessing that wouldn't have worked out too well for Ladybug and Chat Noir considering how good you are at fencing," Marinette said before giggling.
Luka looked over at Marinette with a grin, "You know, Marinette? You're cute when you giggle. Actually, you're cute anyway, but especially when you giggle."
Marinette blushed brightly and tried to hide her face. Adrien wrapped his arm semi-protectively around Marinette's shoulders. A deep frown plastered on his face when Luka glanced back at him.
"Hey, she's my fan don't go trying to steal her from me."
Luka chuckled and leaned in closer to Adrien, "You know what? You're cute too."
Adrien's eyes widened with shock, and his face went a full shade darker than Marinette's had been. Luka smirked. He was having fun teasing these two. Since they had little control over their emotions, it was easy to get a dramatic reaction.
"Luka," Marinette exclaimed sounding just like Ladybug had earlier.
Luka realized that her exclamation was meant to be the beginning of a sentence but apparently, she couldn't find the words to follow it. He looked at the two and pretended nothing had happened.
"Well, shall we go?" Luka asked, trying to distract them and get back on track since they had just wasted a bunch of time avoiding and fighting an Akuma.
"Yeah," Marinette said gently.
Adrien couldn't even muster up a reply, simply nodding.
Luka couldn't help but chuckle. He'd truly rattled Adrien with his flirting and wasn't ashamed.
